Ditching and grading attachment for plows



2 Sheets-Sht 1.

(N0 Model.)

-J. W. ESTES. DITGHING AND GRADING ATTACHMENT FOR FLOWS.

Patented May 20, 1884.

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J. W. ESTES.

DITGHING AND GRADING ATTAOHMENTTOR FLOWS. No. 298,741.

Patented May 20, 1884'.

WITNESSES f" C I ifidw rrn are r rrinn.

JOHN \VILLIAM ESTES, OF KEYTESVILLE, MISSOURI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 298,741, dated May 20, 188%.

Application filed December 5, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. Esrns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Keytesville, in the county of Ghariton and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Ditching and Grading Attachment for Flows, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to ditching-machines employing a plow and endless elevator, with suitable operating mechanism, whereby the plowed soil is transferred to a traveling elevator and deposited on one side of the ditch.

The objects of the invention under consideration are to arrange the ditching-plow at the side of the machine outside of the main frame, and to improve the general construction and organization of such machines.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the improved machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation to show the plow and its attachments more fully; and Fig. 4. is a view of the rear portion or discharge end of the elevator and dirt receiver and dropper.

In the annexed drawings, A represents a suitable frame, mounted upon the transporting-wheels 13 B and the caster-wheels O O, substantially as shown in Fig. l of the drawings. The forward portion of the frame is provided with a tongue, D, preferably pivotally connected thereto; also, the forward portion of this frame is provided with the singletree E and a double-tree, F, the latter being adjustably connected to clevises. (See Fig. 2.)

To one side (left-handside) of the machine is connected the plow-beam H, carrying plow I, with a properly-curved mold-board, for the purpose hereinafter stated. The forward end of the plow-beam H is provided with a clevis, a, having a plurality of perforations to make adjustable connection with the rear end of the clevis b, likewise provided with a plurality of perforations for vertical and lateral adjustments of the plow-beam. (See Fig. 2.) The vertical adjustment of the plow is also accommodated by means of an open frame, K, attached to the side of the frame A. The rear end of the plow-beam is provided with a vertical arm or bar, 0, to the upper end of which arms L L on the shaft L is pivotally connected a lever, d, having its fulcrum in a vertical bar, f, attached to the rear end of the frame, whereby the rear end of the plow-beam can be adjusted from the drivers seat for either deep or shallow ditching, and secured in the adjusted position by means of a rack-bar or equivalent device, h, engaging with the other end of the lever d.

To the rear portion of the frame A, within a formed space, is arranged an elevator-frame, M, suspended at its upper end from the longitudinal bar M by short hangers a. The other end of the elevator-frame M is adjustably supported by means of two chains attached to the The shaft L is provided with a lever, m, having a spring lockbar to engage with a ratchet-segment for the purpose of holding the forward or lower end of the elevator-frame at any desired inclination.

P designates an endless carrying-apron, provided with a number of transverse L-shape cleats, to retain the earth upon the apron and carry the same with the motion of the belt to the delivery end. Motion is communicated to the carrying-apron in the well-known manner through the agency of sprocket-wheels and chains. The sprocket-wheels at the upper end of the endless carrying-apron P are secured to the shaft N, the forward end of which is provided with a miter gear-wheel, t, which engages a miter gear-wheel, It, at right angles thereto on the outer end of the shaft to which the transporting-wheel B is fixed.

Arranged in a suitable manner under the discharge end of the carryingapron is a dirt receiver and dumper, R, for receiving the dirt from the apron and dumping it at intervals to fill up post-holes or other excavations along the line of the ditch. This dirt-receiver is composed, essentially, of two hinged portions or sections, with a trip device leading to the tached to the machine and the plow adjusted I over the line of the old ditch to be deepened or the new one to be made, the machine is drawn forward, and as the plowed-up dirt is IOO elevated upon the mold-board it is discharged upon the lower end of the carrying-apron, and the upward motion of the endless apron discharges it into the dirt-receiver R, and at suitable intervals the receiver is opened by the driver from his seat and the contents thereof dropped. In some cases it is quite evident that the dirt receiver and dumper may be omitted from the machine.

I reserve the right to vary the construction of the parts composing the machine, as well as the arrangement of the same, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersIatent, is

1. In a ditching-machine, the combination, with the main frame having a transverse elevator-space formed between horizontal transverse parallel beams connected about the middle of their lengths by a longitudinal beam, M, of a short rectangular elevator-frame, M, pivoted at its rear end by hangers to the iongitudinal connecting-beam M, and flexibly connected near its front end by chains attached to the arms of a rock-shaft, L provided with a lever, m, adapted to engage a holding-rack on the main frame, the endless apron P, its sprocket-chains, and the sprocket -wheel on front shaft, and the operating-shaft, substan tially as specified.

2. In a ditchingmachine, the combination,-

my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN \VILLIAM ESTES. WVitnesses:

P. 'l. HoLMAN, T. 'I. ELLIOTT. 

